Trapped In Dora's World Alternate
by truearthurfan
Summary: In this alternate ending starting from the end of The Rescue, May and Dora go down a path leading to May's meories revealing a dark road, stained in blood.  What will they learn? Who is May? What dark secrets does her past hold? Rated K  4 violence & bloo


Chapter Eight

Fun At The Beach

'I don't think so,' I said, holding the pink one-piece swimsuit with yellow flowers and a frill in front of me, looking at my reflection in the mirror.

Today, Dora's parents were taking Dora, me and Boots to the beach.

We were trying to find something I'd like to wear at the beach.

In truth, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go or not.

Back in the real world, I hadn't been to the beach, I mean been to the beach and enjoyed myself in over 8 years.

I just lost my joy of being at the beach.

This was for multiple reasons.

The main reason was that I'd always hated it when the sand stuck to my body. In particular, my hands.

I couldn't rubbed my eyes while at the beach because, if I did, I'd get sand in my eyes.

I also hated how I'd always end up drinking a little saltwater when I went swimming in the sea.

The reason I told myself I didn't like the beach was because, back when I was 4, I'd almost drowned because I'd gone out too deep.

But I always found holes in the logic of that reason.

I'd enjoyed myself at the beach a lot of times after that experience, so it wasn't nearly drowning that had made me stop enjoying myself at the beach.

I guess the real reason why I didn't like going to the beach was a mystery to me.

'So, what about this one?' Dora said, holding up a pink kid's bikini.

I took it from her and held it against me, looking into the mirror.

'Hmm,' I said, thinking. 'I like it.'

'Good,' Dora said smiling. 'Then I'll wear this one.'

She held up a purple kid's bikini with a small green frill on the underwear.

I smiled.

Despite being only 7, Dora seemed pretty mature and fashion conscious for her age.

'Girls,' Mrs Melina called to us from outside. 'It's time to go.'

'Coming,' we called, putting our bikinis into Backpack and Pack, slinging them over our shoulders and hurrying out.

Dora's parents and Boots were waiting for us in the car.

It wasn't too fancy a car.

It was a simple, small, purple 5 seater car.

We'd all just fit.

We got into the car, Mr. Melina turned the key and we drove off towards the beach.

I was sitting on the left side.

As the car drove down the road I looked out the window at the passing trees.

Suddenly I saw something standing in the trees.

I blinked and it was gone.

I frowned.

Was I starting to see things?

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

'_Probably just the lack of sleep,_' I thought, opening my eyes and looking up at the sky through the window.

The last 7 nights I'd been having those dreams.

I kept waking up because of them, thus, I kept losing sleep.

But I was used to losing sleep.

Back in the real world, it would normally take me between at least 1-2 hours, then waking up at around 4am in the morning.

And, considering that I'd usually go to bed after 10:30pm, that didn't leave much time for sleep, did it?

But I'd always coped pretty well.

Half an hour later we were at the beach.

We got the car and unpacked everything.

The umbrellas, the mats, the picnic basket, etc.

Dora and I changed into our kid bikinis in the girls' toilets.

We walked out and went down to meet Dora's parents on the beach.

'_Well,_' I thought, lifting my bare right foot. '_My first bare-footed step on a beach in over 8 years._'

I put my foot down; bracing myself for the unpleasant feeling I always go when I touched sand back in the real world.

It didn't come.

The sand didn't feel the same as it did back in the real world.

It felt... nice.

I smiled.

Here was another of the good things about being in a cartoon world.

I smiled at Dora.

'Race ya,' I said grinning, running down towards the water.

'Hey, no fair,' Dora called, laughing, hurrying after me. 'You got a head start.'

We ran down into the water and started splashing each other.

The water didn't even taste salty.

It was pleasant.

'Cannon ball!' Boots cried, dropping into the water, sending a wave of water splashing over Dora and me.

We all laughed, having the time of our lives.

I hadn't had this much fun in years.

If I was going to be trapped in another world, at least it was this one, where I could have lots of fun.

'_Whoa! Hold the phone there, boy,_' I thought, shaking my head. '_**Never**__ think like that. Never! You're going to get home and everything will return to normal._'

'Normal,' I said quietly. 'But, compared to this, that life wasn't really fun. I'd lost my real fun.'

It was true.

Once you're an adult, a lot of fun leaves the world.

At least here, fun was still around.

'Heads up, May!' Dora called.

'Huh?' I said, not paying attention, and getting a face-full of water.

Dora and Boots laughed.

I laughed too.

I'd needed that, more than they'd ever realize.

We played in the water for a couple more minutes.

Then Dora's mum called us over for lunch.

We came out of the water, dripping with water. No surprise there, huh?

We hurried over and dried ourselves off.

Once the 3 of us were dry we had lunch.

Now, back in the real world, when my family and I had gone on picnics, I'd been very picky about what I'd eat in comparison to the rest of my family.

I wouldn't eat salad. I wouldn't touch coleslaw. I wouldn't even try lettuce.

When I'd been 7 myself, I'd tried eating a leaf.

The way it had had felt in my mouth had almost made my throw up.

Since then, I'd done my best to avoid trying any leafy kind of food.

But in this world, it didn't have that bad feeling.

For some unknown reason, a lot of the foods I wouldn't like, back in the real world, I liked in this world.

I didn't really understand it, but I wasn't really complaining either.

It meant I could eat almost anything.

That meant, I was never rude about food.

But I sill couldn't eat brussel sprouts.

What sane person _could _willingly eat them?

Dora and Boots certainly couldn't.

They'd tried.

They'd almost spewed when they put them in their mouths.

Anyway, lunch was a couple of salads, some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a carton of apple juice each.

I happily ate lunch, sipping the juice through a small straw.

This was nice.

If it wasn't for my family back in the real world, I'd stay here with Dora's family forever.

'_Stop thinking like that,_' I thought, angry with myself. '_That's not the way it is. You're a 19-year-old boy from the real world, with a family and you're going to get back there. Stop thinking like this is permanent._'

After lunch, Dora, Boots and I went exploring the beach.

As we walked along the trees, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

'Hey, what's that?' Boots said, pointing to the water.

There was something greenish floating a little out in it.

'Let's go, check it out,' I said, running towards the water.

Had my common sense kicked in, I would have remembered that you're not supposed to go back into the water for at least an hour after eating.

But that wasn't what I had to worry about.

As Dora and I reached the water, the greenish thing rose into the air.

It was followed by a long green neck.

It was a giant sea snake.

I'd never seen such a huge snake.

It was at least ten feet tall.

It looked down at us with two yellow eyes, licking its lips.

'We are so dead,' I said, staring up at the sea snake.

'No, we're not,' Dora said smiling.

I stared at her in bewilderment.

How could she think that we weren't going to die, right here?

That snake was _huge_ and I had no idea how to stop an ordinary sea snake. Let alone a ten foot sea snake.

'Sea snakes are scared of pirates,' Dora said, looking at me.

'And how is that supposed to help us?' I asked, looking at her.

Okay, so sea snakes were scared of pirates. Good to know. But how was that going to help us? I couldn't see any pirates nearby.

'All we have to do is say "arg", like a pirate,' Dora said, looking from me back to the giant sea snake.

'_Say "arg"?_' I thought, not sure whether I believed her or not. '_Okay. But if this doesn't work I'm going to feel really stupid during the last moment of my life._'

Dora and I both faced the sea snake.

'Arg!' we both shouted at it.

It blinked, staring at us.

'_Whoa,_' I thought, seeing its reaction. '_Maybe Dora was right. Still, this is kinda embarrassing._'

'Say it again,' Dora said, looking at me. 'Louder.'

'Arg!' we both shouted again, facing the sea snake.

It flinched, looking a little fearful.

'Faster!' Dora said smiling.

'Arg! Arg! Arg! Arg! Arg!' we shouted quickly.

The sea snake swam away as fast as it could.

'What a wuss,' I said, folding my arms, grinning. 'We don't even _look_ like pirates and it was still scared of us.'

'I told you,' Dora said smiling. 'Now, we'd better get out of the water.'

'Yeah,' I said, my common sense starting to flow through my brain at last. 'Before we get major cramps.'

We hurried out of the water and went back to where Dora's parents had set everything up.

They weren't there.

At first, I wondered where they could be. Then I got my answer and shook my head in embarrassment.

They were playing around in the water, acting like kids.

Yes, okay. I'm a 19 or 20-year-old boy who was doing the exact same thing, but there was a difference.

I was in a 7-year-old girl's body.

If I didn't act like a kid, it'd look suspicious.

'Let's make sand castles,' Boots suggested, taking the 3 buckets out of the toys bag, handing one to Dora and another to me.

Now, I'd never been one for making sand castles.

Mainly because, seeing all those magnificent sand castles on TV always made me feel like I wasn't any good at it.

But, I was now in a TV show _world_.

If I couldn't make a good sand castle here, I couldn't make one anywhere.

So, we took our buckets and spades and starting making sand castles.

It turned out to be a lot of fun.

It just showed how long it had been since I'd been able to enjoy something like this.

Chapter Nine

A Meeting Of Interest

'Hey, Dora,' I called, waving to her from near the trees.

Dora and Boots looked up from our sand castles.

I sounded confused.

They had no idea how I'd managed to move over to the trees without them realizing that I wasn't next to them anymore.

'What is it, May?' Dora asked, standing up.

'Come and check this out,' I said, indicating for them to come over.

They looked at each, shrugged and hurried over to me.

'What is it?' Dora asked, stopping in front of me.

I pointed to the tree I was standing in front of.

They looked to where I was pointing.

Carved into the bark of the tree was the shape of a heart with words inside of it.

The words in the heart said: Kaname + May Forever.

They looked at me, confusion all over there faces.

I shrugged.

'I don't get it either,' I said, shaking my head. 'That "May" was definitely written in my handwriting, but I don't remember ever writing that.'

'And who's Kanami?' Dora asked, frowning at the name above mine.

'It's pronounce Kana-_may_,' I said, shaking my head. 'It's a Japanese name. Or rather, it's spelt the Japanese way, with letters from the English alphabet.'

'You know that from your world?' Boots asked, looking at me.

'Yeah,' I said, nodding. 'I've got a Manga novel, back in my world, where one of the main character's names is Kaname.'

'What a Manga?' Boots asked, raising an eyebrow.

'It's the word the Japanese use for graphic novels,' I said, frowning at the carving in the tree again. 'I have a few of them, back at home in the real- my world.'

I'd almost said "real world". I'd have to be more careful when talking about my past.

I put my right-hand on the tree and moved it down, feeling the indents the carvings made.

'Ow!' I said, pulling my hand back and holding it.

There was a splinter stuck in my ring-finger.

I grabbed the tip of the splinter with my other hand and yanked it out, tossing it aside.

A small bit of blood trickled out from the tiny hole in my finger, dripping down it, a few drops falling to the ground.

'Well, isn't this nice?' a deep voice said behind us. '3 friends, just waiting for me.'

The 3 of us whirled around.

A man was standing in the trees, not too far from us, the top half of his face in shadow.

'Friends?' I said, glaring at him. 'I think I'd remember being friends with someone as old as you.'

'Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?' the man said, his lips curling into a smile.

'What?' I said, my eyes narrowing.

Did he know that I was a 19 or 20-year-old boy trapped in a 7-year-old girl's body.

'What do you want?' Dora asked the man, her face firm.

I knew, at once that Dora shouldn't have asked that question.

The man lifted his head.

His eyes glowed blood-red.

'That delicious smelling blood, of course,' he said, looking at me.

'He's a vampire!'

I gasped the words before I could stop myself.

Dora and Boots stared at me in horror.

'A what?' they said, looking at me, fear in their eyes.

'That's right,' the man said, his grin becoming larger. 'And now, I'll sample your blood!'

He lunged at us.

'No!' we all shouted, closing our eyes tightly.

There was a loud squelching sound.

I opened my eyes a little to see what had happened.

Someone was standing next to the vampire.

Their left-arm was sticking out the other end of the vampire's head.

I blinked.

This was familiar.

Was it possible...?

'A disgrace to _all_ vampires,' the other person said, pulling their arm out of the vampire's head in 1, swift movement.

I blinked.

There was no way. It wasn't possible.

This was the wrong cartoon.

The other person turned towards my direction, bringing his arm to his mouth, licking it lightly as the body of the vampire turned to dust and was blown away by the wind.

I gasped.

He had black hair and marron eyes.

It was Kaname! Kaname Kuron!

But how? This world was DORA The Explorer's world, not the Vampire Knight.

He was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and black jeans.

He bent down, holding out his blood-stained hand to me.

'Are you alright?' he asked me kindly.

I wasn't able to say anything.

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Kaname Kuron, Vampire Knight's Kaname Kuron was here, in DORA The Explorer's world.

That shouldn't be possible.

Dora and Boots opened their eyes and saw Kaname.

'Who- who are you?' Dora asked, looking at him.

'Someone close to May,' he said, not looking at her, still focused on me.

I reached out, took his hand and he help me stand up.

'Are you alright?' he asked me as I looked up at him.

'I'm fine,' I said quietly, looking away.

This was too weird, even for me now.

Being pulled into DORA The Explorer's world and being turned into a girl with a magical singing voice was 1 thing. But learning that Kaname Kuron was in this world too? I'm sorry, but when did I get off the bus at Crazy Town?

I looked back up at him, not sure if I was seeing things or not.

This wasn't the Kaname _I_ knew.

He was younger.

He looked about 14-15.

But he had the same, kind smile.

'Yes?' Kaname asked, when I'd stared up at him for 20 seconds without saying anything.

'Kaname... Kuron?' I asked, looking up at him.

Kaname looked a little surprised.

'Not quite,' he said, smiling, putting his right-hand on my head. 'My first name _is_ Kaname, but my last name is Koron.'

'Koron?' I asked, not quite thinking straight yet.

He smiled, taring off a small piece of his shirt and wrapping it around my finger like a bandage.

'Try not to hurt yourself again, okay?' he said, tightening the bandage. 'I might not be able to help you next time.'

He stood up and walked off into the trees, disappearing.

'May?' Dora said, looking at me. 'Who was that?'

I looked down at the bandage around my finger and back up to the trees.

'I'm not sure,' I said truthfully as the wind blew through my hair.

'Dora?' Mrs Melina's voice called from the beach.

'Boots? May?' Mr. Melina's voice called too.

'Come on,' I said, shaking my head, grabbing Dora's hand and hurrying back to where Dora's parents were. 'We'd better get back.'

But thoughts were whirling through my mind.

That had definitely been Kaname.

Maybe not the exact same Kaname I knew from the Vampire Knight Anime, back in the real world, but it was definitely him.

Those words he'd used, the way he'd saved us from that vampire, his kind, soft, caring smile.

They were all the same as Kaname Kuron.

The way he'd looked at me. It was the same way Kaname Kuron looked at Yuki Cross.

But why?

I was just a 19 or 20-year-old boy from the real world. What would Kaname want with me?  
>For that matter, what was Kaname even <em>doing<em> in this world?

This wasn't his world. It was Dora's. Why was he here?

Several hours later, we packed everything up, got in the car and drove away from the beach.

We'd be dropping Boots off, by his house before going back to Dora's.

As the car drove off, Kaname watched from within the trees.

'Please,' he said as the car went over the hill. 'May, be safe.'

During the drive, I kept thinking about what had happened today.

How was Kaname here?

Why had he looked at me with such tender eyes?

Yet, along with the tenderness, I saw sadness too.

Why?

If I'd only seen more of Vampire Knight, back in the real world, maybe I'd know. But I hadn't. I think I'd seen up to episode 6 and that was as far as I'd got.

You know. Because I fell into Dora's world before I could watch anymore.

If I hadn't, I might have learned why Kaname Kuron was so kind to Yuki Cross and, inturn, figure out why Kaname Koron was so kind to me.

It must have been a similar reason, but I didn't know what.

We dropped Boots off at his house and headed back towards Dora's house.

I was still lost in my thoughts.

'_Kaname Koron,_' I thought, looking at my bandaged finger. '_You're a vampire, but you were so kind to me. A mere human. Why?_'

When got back to the house we unpacked, went inside and changed into our clothes.

I chose to wear the clothes I'd been wearing when I'd arrived in this world.

Dinner was couscous with honey soy chicken.

I didn't really feel that hungry.

I had too much on my mind.

Why was Kaname even here, in Spain?

There was no real reason why he should be here.

Why had he saved me?

Why would I matter to him?

Suddenly an image flashed in front of my eyes.

It was of a woman with blonde hair, like mine, wearing a light-purple fancy dress, like the ones you see people wearing in old fashion movies, leaning towards me.

It lasted only a second but I saw it.

I gasped, not sure what had just happened.

'May?'

I looked up.

Dora and her parents were looking at me.

'Are you alright?' Dora asked, looking at me.

'Y-yeah,' I said, looking away. 'I think I'm just a little tired. Can I go to bed? I'm not feeling very hungry.'

A few minutes later I was wearing my orangey pyjamas, standing by the window, the summer breeze blowing softly through my hair.

'What's going on?' I whispered, looking down at my finger.

I'd taken the bandage off when I'd had my bath.

My finger had stopped bleeding.

I was a little worried.

That vampire hadn't come near us until I'd pricked my finger and some blood had trickled out.

Did that mean my blood smelt really delicious to vampires?

Wait; was it _my_ blood, as in, Ben's blood, or this girl body's blood? Oh, that was gross.

I sighed, walked to my bed, got in, and laid there for a while, just looking at the ceiling.

What was going on?  
>Why was Kaname in this world?<br>I didn't care whether his last name was Kuron or Koron. He was still Kaname and he shouldn't be in this world. It wasn't right.

Then again, you could say the same about me.

After all, I wasn't from this world either.

I was from the real world.

I sighed, turned to my side and went to sleep.

Things were becoming too confusing for me.

Chapter Ten

Dora & May In Space

I yawned, holding my hand over my mouth.

I was at the Spanish Space Station.

I was with Dora and the rest of our kindergarten class.

I had no idea why we were here. At least half of the kids wouldn't understand what they were being told about space travel.

This was for, like, 8-year-olds and older.

As the tour guide told the other kids about how the combustion of the rockets can break the force of Earth's gravity to launch into space, which I thought was a waste of time, since the other kids wouldn't remember half of what she was saying, I walked away from the group and down the corridor to the left.

'Surely there's something I can enjoy around here,' I said, looking around as I walked, feeling bored.

I was wearing the same type of clothes I'd been wearing when I arrived in this world.

Dora's mum had bought me more of the same clothing so that I could wear them more often.

'What are you doing?'

I looked behind me.

Dora was standing there, her arms folded, frowning at me.

'I don't see the point of this fieldtrip,' I said, shaking my head. 'The chances that half the other kids will remember even half of this by the time they get home.'

'That may be, May,' Dora said, shaking her head. 'But remember that, right now, fieldtrips are just for fun. They're not like the ones you've become use to, back in your world.'

She was right.

In my last 6 years of school, I'd hardly _ever_ been on a fieldtrip that was just for fun. There was always some kind of learning point to it.

'Yeah, I guess,' I said sighing. 'Sorry, Dora. Adults can have pretty boring minds, can't we?'

Dora was a little surprised.

That was the first time since she'd met me that I'd referred to myself as an adult.

'Come on,' I said smiling. 'Let's go back and join the group.'

Dora smiled.

At that moment, from out of nowhere, a wind blew against us, sending us flying down the hallway, through some open steal doors.

We banged our heads against the wall and were knocked out cold.

As we laid unconscious on the floor, the room shook as it went up.

We weren't in a room.

We were in an elevator heading for the latest rocket marked for launch.

It was supposed to be maned by a monkey.

Not one likes Boots though.

A non-talking monkey.

Back with our kindergarten group, everyone was looking for us.

They couldn't figure out where we'd gone.

'Are you ready, Cheery?' a woman with short-cut red hair wearing a white coat said into a microphone, looking at a brown monkey wearing a spacesuit on the TV screen.

The monkey nodded.

Back in the elevator, I opened my eyes, looking around wearily.

'Where are we?' I asked, sitting up, holding my head.

Man, it was pounding. I must have really hit it hard.

'I don't know,' Dora said, sitting up, holding her head too. 'But I think we should get out of here.'

'Yeah,' I said, nodding.

I walked to the double doors and pushed the "doors open" button.

The doors opened and we walked out.

Suddenly, I felt off-balance.

Both Dora and I fell down, landing on our butts.

'Okay,' I said, rubbing my butt. 'It's not going to be easy to walk around in here.'

'Look,' Dora said, pointing to the end of the room. 'It's a door.'

She was right.

There was a door at the end of the room.

We stood up, wobbling a little as we tried to get our balance.

We hurried, wobbly over to the door and opened it.

It looked like a food storage area.

But most of the foods were just fruits, mainly bananas.

'Oh, no,' I said, my eyes going wide.

'What is it, May?' Dora asked, looking at me.

'I don't know how,' I said, looking at her, 'but we're on a space shuttle. And I think it's the 1 their launching today.'

The room started shaking and we almost lost our balance again.

'It's launching!' I cried, turning to the door at the other end of the room. 'We've got to tell the mission control that we're onboard.'

We hurried to the door and looked in through the circle window on it.

We saw a brown monkey wearing a space suit going crazy in the cockpit.

'Okay,' I said, leaning against the closed door. 'We're stuck on a space shuttle with no space suits and the monkey that's supposed to by piloting it has gone crazy. This is bad.'

'That's an understatement,' Dora said, looking at me. 'Do you think your singing could calm it down?'

'I don't know,' I said, thinking. 'It could. But then again, it might just make things worse.'

'Well we've got to do something,' Dora said firmly. 'I don't think there's enough air on this ship to last 3 people for too long.'

'Technically, 2 people and a monkey,' I corrected her. 'But I see your point.'

I took a deep breath and started singing the song sung by the Little Mermaid from Hands Christian Anderson's The Storyteller.

It was simply me singing no real words. Just singing.

My voice travelled across the shuttle.

Back on Earth, the audio picked up my singing and everyone at mission control could hear it.

'What is that?' the main commander said, frowning in confusion.

'It sounds like... singing, sir,' a man wearing a white lab coat, sitting by 1 of the computers said, looking like he wasn't believing it himself.

'But, who on or off Earth could be singing in space?' the commander said, still looking confused.

At that moment, Miss Marley, our kindergarten teacher came in and heard my singing.

'I know that voice,' she said, looking stunned. 'That's May.'

'Who is this May?' the commander said, turning to her, frowning.

'She's 1 of my students,' she said, the other kids coming up behind her, the tour guide behind them.

'But, how could her singing be in space?' the commander asked, frowning. 'She'd have to be _on_ the shuttle for us to hear her like this.'

'That's because I _am_ on the shuttle,' my voice said, the singing stopping.

They all turned to the TV monitor.

I was sitting in front of the camera, smiling sheepishly.

'May!' Miss Marley cried, staring in shock. 'What are you doing on the space shuttle? And where's Dora?'

'She's right here, with me,' I said sheepishly and Dora floated up behind me, also smiling sheepishly.

'What are you both doing on that space shuttle when you're supposed to be here, with the rest of the class?' Miss Marley said, glaring at us.

'Well, we're not really sure how we got here ourselves,' I said frowning. 'But shouldn't we be more worried about how Dora and I are going to get back to Earth.'

'Cherry should be able to pilot the shuttle back to Earth,' the woman who'd spoken to the monkey before said firmly.

'Um, yeah,' I said, looking away sheepishly. 'He can't do that, now.'

'Why not?' she asked frowning.

'He was going crazy,' I said, scratching my chin. 'So, in order to calm him down, I sang to him and he kinda... fell asleep.'

'Oh, great,' the commander said, whacking his forehead with his right-hand. 'So now two 7-year-old girls are going to have to pilot the shuttle back safely.'

'Didn't you program an automatic return function into this thing when you decided to send the monkey into space?' I said, looking at them from the monitor.

I remembered that, on a movie called Space Chimps that I'd seen, back in the real world, the shuttle that the humans had sent the chimps into space in had such a program because they didn't believe that the chimps were smart enough to do it themselves.

'Oh, yeah,' the man in the lab coat said, slamming his fist into his palm. 'The auto-retrieval system. It will bring the shuttle back to Earth in 12 hours.'

'Whoa, hang on,' I said frowning. 'Did you just say that we'll have to stay up here for 12 hours?'

'Well, 11 hours, 51 minutes and 34 seconds,' the man said, typing into his computer.

'Great,' I said sarcastically, leaning back in the chair. 'What are we supposed to do until then? Just sit around and twiddle our thumbs?'

'Well...' the man said, looking away.

'I'll help them.'

Everyone turned around.

Kaname walked in, looking like a prince charming.

He was dressed in the same clothes he'd been wearing when he'd saved Dora and me from another vampire, back at the beach last month.

'Who are you?' the commander said, glaring at him. 'You're not permitted in here.'

'Kaname?' I said, staring at him in surprise. 'What are you doing here?'

'I've come to help you, May,' he said, looking t the monitor and smiling. 'You know, that computer screen doesn't show off how truly beautiful you are.'

'Um, thanks,' I said unsure. 'I think.'

'Now, close your eyes and clear your mind,' he said, closing his own eyes.

'Okay,' I said, shrugging.

What did I have to lose?

Okay, bad question to ask. I was in space shuttle for crying out loud. One mistake and Dora and I were dead meat.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind.

Suddenly I was outside my body, looking at myself.

'Okay,' I said frowning. '_This_ is weird.'

Suddenly the me I was looking at opened her eyes.

'Hold on to something, Dora,' she said, a determined look on her face.

I realized that my eyes had changed.

They looked like Kaname's eyes now.

Was Kaname inside my body, controlling what it was doing?

Okay, after this was all over he and I would have to talk about personal boundaries.

The Kaname-controlled me angled the shuttle towards the Earth.

'I don't know how you're doing this, kid,' the commander said, looking at my body from the video-screen on the control panel. 'But you keep at it.'

'Angle your trajectory by 5 degrees left,' the man in the lab coat said, appearing on the screen. 'That way, the shuttle won't burn up on re-entry.'

My head nodded.

I hadn't made it nod.

I was still looking from outside my body somehow.

I wasn't sure what was happening, but I was guessing it had something to do with Kaname's Pure Blood Vampire powers.

I knew, thanks to Vampire Knight, that Pure Blood vampires had powers no other vampire can be born with.

But what kind of power was this?

Being able to control someone else's body? That was just creepy.

20 minutes later, the shuttle was landing.

As the wheels made contract with the ground I found myself back in my body again.

I looked at my hands, blinking.

That had been the weirdest experience I'd had so far. And I'd had a lot of weird experiences over the last couple of days, but this 1 toped them all.

When the doors opened Dora and I sped out of the shuttle and into the arms of Miss Marley.

That had been 1 of the most terrifying things I'd ever done.

If that was what it was like to space travel, I was going to stay on Earth forever.

The tour was cancelled and we went back to kindergarten.

Well, the other kids went back to kindergarten.

Dora and I went back home to recover.

Before we'd left the space station Kaname had held my tightly.

'I thought I'd lost you,' he said, holding me close.

'Why...?' I said, having trouble finding the words, even though they were clear in my mind. 'Why do you care... so much for me?'

'You needn't know that right now,' he said, letting go and looking into my eyes. 'But I have something for you.'

He let go of me, reached behind him and gave me something rod-shaped, wrapped in brown paper.

'What is it?' I asked, taking it in my small hands.

'If ever you need to defend yourself, use this,' he said, standing up.

With that, he walked and vanished.

I thought about that all the way back to Dora's place.

As we neared the house, I unwrapped the thing Kaname had given me.

My eyes widened.

It was a small silver rod with the mark of a moon in the centre of it.

'The Artemis Rod,' I whispered, shocked. 'But... how?'

Dora's parents weren't happy that Dora and I had been on the space shuttle, but were relieved that we'd managed to get back to Earth safely.

That night, I told Dora what had happened when I'd done what Kaname had asked me and showed her the Artemis Rod he'd given me.

'He said I should use it to defend myself,' I said, looking down at it uncertainly. 'But defend myself from what?'

'I'm not sure, May,' Dora said, shaking her head. 'But I do know that that Kaname seems to care for you a lot.'

'But why?' I said, my hand tightening around Artemis. 'Why would he care for_ me_? I'm not even supposed to be _in_ this world. Why would he care so much for someone from another world?'

'I'm not sure,' Dora said, shaking her head. 'But we'll find it out together.'

I nodded.

Dora was right.

Whatever the reason for Kaname caring for me, we'd find out together.

I went to sleep that night, Kaname on my mind.

Why _did_ he care for me?

I was standing in that hallway again.

I looked around, frowning.

There was that smell again.

What was it?  
>It was both sweet and scary at the same time.<p>

Why?

'You don't have to worry anymore.'

I looked around.

Who'd said that?

It had been a woman's voice.

It had sounded so kind, but so sad.

Suddenly a pair of eyes glared out at me from the darkness.

One was yellow and the other was marron, like Kaname's and a pair or shining white fangs appeared underneath them.

'Give me,' a man's voice said, the teeth moving as the words came, 'your blood!'

The fangs lunged towards me.

'NO!' I screamed, sitting up bed, my eyes wide with fear.

'May?' Dora cried anxiously, sitting up and turning to look at me.

I was sitting in my bed, my right hand over my right eye.

She could still see my left eye.

It was wide with terror and I was shaking all over.

That had been the most terrifying dream I'd ever had.

I hadn't had a dream that terrifying in my whole life.

What did it mean?  
>Why did I keep seeing that hallway?<p>

What was that smell that was both sweet and terrifying?

Chapter Eleven

A Terrifying Truth

'Come on, Boots,' I called, sliding down the red slide on the playground.

I hadn't had so much fun on a slid since... I was about 6-8.

'May,' Dora called from the monkey bars.

'Yeah, Dora?' I called, laughing as Boots slipped down the slide upside down.

It had now been a month since I'd arrived in Dora's world.

I'd met Kaname a couple more times.

He'd always spoken kindly to me and looked at me with such tender eyes.

I still wasn't sure why he was so caring towards me, but Dora and I had been trying to figure it out.

'I've been thinking about something,' Dora said, swinging off the monkey bars and running over to me.

'What have you been thinking about?' I asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Kaname,' Dora said, looking at me.

I felt my other eyebrow rise.

Dora was thinking about Kaname now? While we were at kindergarten? Should I be worried?

'If he is a Pure Blood vampire, why would he care for someone from another world?' Dora said, looking at me.

'I've been trying to figure that out since we first met him,' I said, folding my arms and shaking my head. 'If I knew the answer to that question I'd been much happier.'

'Maybe you wouldn't,' Dora said, shaking her head.

'What do you mean?' I asked frowning.

Dora wasn't making much sense.

Why wouldn't I like finding out why Kaname was always so nice to me?

I was from another world. It couldn't be guilt or anything like that. I hadn't even existed in this world until Fairy Godmother's spell stuffed up and pulled my here by accident.

'I'm not so sure that you're from another world,' Dora said, looking like she'd rather not have said it.

'What?' I said, frowning.

'I don't think you're who you think you are,' Dora said, shaking her head.

What?  
>How could I not be who I thought I was?<p>

I was Ben Cousins.

A 19 or 20-year-old boy from the real world.

I had 2 brothers, 3 sisters and was the eldest in my family.

I'd had a brain injury when I was 7 and graduated from high school in December 2010.

How could I not be who I thought I was?

'Of course I'm from another world,' I said firmly, pointing my thumb at myself. 'I'm Ben Cousins. Graduate of Ross Smith Secondary Public School, Australia. I was born in 1991 and raised all my life in Australia.'

'I don't think you were,' Dora said, shaking her head.

'Dora, how can I _not_ be?' I said, throwing my arms in the air in frustration. 'What, do you think I was really born in this world and some how lost my memories, which were then replaced by the memories of someone from another world? I _am_ me.'

'But-' Dora began.

'I _am_... me,' I said, leaning against her face, glaring. 'End of story.'

I walked off, my fists at my sides.

'But, May...' Dora said quietly, watching as I walked back inside, still fuming. 'I'm just trying to help you.'

I walked into the classroom, walked to the toilet, pushed the door open, walked into a cubicle, slammed the door, locked it and sat down on the toilet.

I put my head in my knees and started to cry.

I didn't want to admit it, but a small part of me agreed with Dora.

Now that I was thinking about it, it made sense.

If I was Ben Cousins, why hadn't my parents tried to contact me again?

It had been over a month since my Dad had called me that 1 time.

Why hadn't Mum tried to call me?

Didn't they care about me anymore?  
>Didn't they want to bring me back to the real world?<p>

What kind of parents would give up on their first son?

After kindergarten was over, something happened to cheer me up.

Elsa, one of the girls from class with blue eyes and red hair, tied back in a ponytail invited Dora and me over to her house for a sleepover the next night.

3 other girls would be there and she wanted to know if we'd join her.

We both agreed.

Dora and I decided to forget about the conversation we'd had on the playground.

After all, we had plenty of time to figure out the real reason why Kaname Koron treated me with kindness when I was a human from another world.

The next night, Dora and I went over to Elsa's house for the sleepover.

She'd asked her mother to hire some DVDs for the party.

Unfortunately for me, they were DVDs were all about ponies and unicorns.

Guys don't like that stuff.

At least, neither I nor any other boy I'd met like them anyway.

Dinner was a whole table of party food.

Party pies, mini sausage rolls, cheese and bacon ball chips, fairy bread and orange soda.

After dinner, we all brushed our teeth and went into Elsa's room.

Her mother had brought out some mattresses and blankets.

After Elsa's mum said goodnight to us, we all stayed up late, telling each other stories, laughing at each others jokes.

I made the mistake about taking about Kaname.

As soon as I mentioned that he was always really kind to me, the other girls wanted to know how _I_ felt about him.

'Well, I'm not really sure,' I said truthfully, searching my brain for the right words. 'I guess... I like him. He's nice. He's good-looking, I can't deny that.'

'And he saved your life?' Chika, a girl with blonde hair tied into 2 pigtails with brown eyes said, looking at me.

'Well, yes, he did,' I said, still not sure what to say.

How had I gotten myself into this situation in the first place?

Oh, yeah. Elsa had asked if I'd met any cute guys, and before I knew what I was saying I started talking about Kaname.

Man, was I an idiot!

'So, do you know if he has any brothers?' Elsa asked, looking at me with keen eyes.

'Um, I'm not really sure,' I said, _so_ wanting to change the subject.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

'Yes?' Elsa said, turning to the door.

It opened and her mother was standing there.

'May?' she said, looking at me.

'Yes?' I said, looking at her, wondering what she wanted me for.

'There's someone at the door who wants to speak with you about something,' Elsa's mum said, indicating that I should follow her.

'Okay,' I said frowning.

Who the heck would want to talk to me in this world?

There weren't _that _many people that I knew.

I followed Elsa's mother to the door and gasped.

Kaname was standing there, smiling at me.

Standing behind him were two people.

They looked like Hanabusa and Sei-Rin from Vampire Knight, but younger.

Hanabusa had blonde hair, light-blue eyes and was wearing the same clothing as Kaname.

Sei-Rin had dark-gray hair, dark-blue eyes and was wearing a gray T-shirt with buttons and a black shirt.

'Um, hi, Kaname,' I said, pretending that I knew what was going on so that Elsa's mum didn't get suspicious. 'I wasn't expecting to see _you_ here? Who are your friends?'

'Hello there, May,' Kaname said, smiling. 'It's good to see you. These are my friends, Kaido and Shay-Lin. I don't mean to interrupt the party, but I was wondering if I could talk to you for a little.'

'Um, okay,' I said, not really sure what was going on, but pretending I did.

Who knows, maybe Kaname was going to explain why he was so kind to me.

'I will bring her back shortly,' Kaname said to Elsa's mum, smiling.

'Alright,' she said, a little uncertainly, closing the door behind me.

'Alright, Kaname,' I said, folding my arms and looking firmly at him. 'What's going on?'

'How dare you speak to Lord Kaname like that, you filthy human-' Kaido began.

He even sounded like Hanabusa.

Kaname held up his right-arm, glaring and Kaido stopped.

'May,' he said smiling at me. 'It hurts me to see you believing in a lie.'

'Huh?' I said, frowning.

What did he mean by that?  
>Did he know that I was a 19 or 20-year-old boy from the real world?<p>

'Wh-what do you mean?' I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

'You are _not_ Ben Cousins trapped in a 7-year-old's body,' Kaname said, looking right at me.

I blinked.

Had I just heard him right?

Was he saying that my memories were wrong?

'Could you repeat that, Kaname?' I said, keeping my voice even. 'I'm not sure I heard you correctly. For a second there, I thought you said that I'm not Ben Cousins. The person whose memories are firmly planted in my mind.'

'You heard correctly,' Kaname said, still looking at me.

'But- but that can't be right,' I said firmly. 'I remember everything so clearly. My 5th birthday at Hungry Jake's. My 18th Birthday at Cafe Primo. Graduating from high school. Getting a job at Phoenix.'

'You may remember those memories, May,' Kaname said, looking at me. 'But they are not _your_ memories.'

'Then how come I have them?' I said angrily, glaring at him. 'If my memories of Ben's world aren't mine, how come I have them? Why don't I have my own?'

'When Fairy Godmother's transportation spell failed, it accidently transferred the memories of that boy into your mind,' Kaname said, looking at me.

'No,' I said, putting my hands on my head. 'That can't be. There's no way. I _am_ Ben Cousins. I know I am.'

'I am sorry, May,' Kaname said, shaking his head. 'But no, you are _not_ Ben Cousins.'

Suddenly I remembered something that contradicted what Kaname was saying.

'If that's true,' I said, pointing at him with my left ring-finger. 'Then what about the call I got from my dad when I was travelling with Dora and Boots after I first arrived here, huh? Explain that, Kaname.'

'Why you-' Kaido began, but Kaname held out his arm again and he stopped.

'That call was _not_ made by Ben Cousins' father,' Kaname said, shaking his head.

'What?' I said, stunned that he'd actually had an answer.

'That was merely Fairy Godmother pretending to be his father to make you feel better,' Kaname said, looking at me.

'No,' I said, shaking my head, my eyes full of fear. 'That can't be.'

'I'm afraid it is,' Kaname said, nodding.

'But that means,' I said, holding my head. 'I don't know who I am. I have no memories of my past. I don't even know if May is my real name.'

I was terrified.

This couldn't be.

I wasn't who I'd thought I was all this time.

It was what had kept me going.

The belief that I was Ben Cousins, trapped the body of a little girl in a fictitious world and that I would eventually escape from it.

But, if I wasn't Ben, who was I?

Where did I come from?  
>Who were my family?<p>

The image of that woman flashed in front of me again.

I gasped.

Was that... a memory?

'Now,' Kaname said, bending down and putting his hand on my shoulder. 'I think you should go back inside. It's dangerous for you to be outside at night.'

'Why?' I asked, looking anxiously at him. 'Why is it dangerous? Why are you telling me all these things? Why have you been so kind to me all this time?'

Kaname closed his eyes and sighed.

'I cannot tell you that now,' he said, putting his hand on my head. 'Now, go back and enjoy the party.'

He watched me until I was inside.

That night I slept uneasily.

I kept seeing Ben standing in front of me.

A portal of purple energy appeared underneath him and his was pulled into it, screaming.

As I looked down into the portal I saw those two differently coloured eyes leering out at me.

'You will be mine!' the man's voice I'd heard before said.

A giant black, clawed hand lunged out of the portal, grabbed me around my neck and pulled me in.

My eyes burst open and I sat up quickly, breathing heavily.

'Why did you have to tell me that, Kaname?' I whispered, putting my head in my hands. 'Why couldn't you just leave me believing I was Ben in a girl's body?'

I cried myself back to sleep, to more uneasy dreams.

Chapter Twelve

An Amazon Trip Of Awakening

'So, is that all of them?' I asked, putting a baby chickadee up in its nest, turning to look at Diego.

Dora and I were visiting him and his sister Elicia at their Animal Rescue Centre Tree House.

Well, Dora's parents had come to visit Diego and Elicia's parents and we'd come along.

Not that we minded.

Diego almost had as many adventures as Dora.

Dora was down on the ground with Diego, watching me.

Dora was wearing her usual clothing and I was wearing the clothes I'd been wearing when I'd arrived in this world.

I mean, the clothes I was wearing when I first met Dora.

I was still trying to get my head around the fact that the memories of the real world weren't mine.

I'd been trying to remember who I really was, but so far, I hadn't remembered anything new.

I was suspended in the air on an orange cable.

Rescue Pack had turned into one and I'd volunteered to climb up and placed the 6 missing baby chickadees back in their nest.

Diego had received the call only a few seconds after Dora and I had arrived so we'd joined him.

The 6 baby chickadees had been blown out of their nest the previous night by a strong wind and had gotten lost.

Luckily, with mine and Dora's help, Diego had found them and we'd returned them back to their home.

'Yep,' Diego called up to me. 'That was the last 1.'

'Okay,' I called down to him. 'I'm coming back down.'

I slid down the rope, landing feet-first on the ground.

'So, should we head back to the Rescue Centre?' I asked as Rescue Park returned to a backpack and slid onto Diego's back.

'I think so,' Diego said, nodding. 'I think Dora's parents had something to tell us but we left before they did.'

So we went back to the Rescue Centre.

Oh, Dora's parents had something to tell us alright.

They'd adopted me.

I couldn't believe it when they told me.

It aggravated me so much I almost lost my temper, which was never something you wanted me- mean, Ben to lose.

I _told_ them that I already had a family, back in the real- I mean, my world- I mean _Ben's_ world and they'd _adopted_ me?

They'd never even asked me if I _wanted_ to be adopted!

Yes, now that I knew I wasn't Ben it meant that his family wasn't the reason why I didn't want to be adopted, but I still had a family, somewhere in _this_ world.

I didn't know who they were, or where they were, but I knew they were out there somewhere.

I ran out the tree house angrily, grabbed 1 of the zip-cables Diego always slides down and slid down it, landing on the ground and running off.

Dora and Diego hurried after me.

In my anger, I hadn't taken the time to remember that I was in the Amazon Rain Forest.

They caught we me a few minutes later.

I was sitting in a clearing, glaring at the ground.

'May-' Dora began.

'Don't, Dora,' I snapped angrily. 'Nothing you can say will make me feel better.'

'But, Dora's parents only wanted to make you a part of the family-' Diego began.

'And what about _my_ family?' I snapped angrily, turning around, glaring. 'Huh, Diego? What about them? They're somewhere else in this world, probably worried sick about me? How do you think they'd feel if they heard I'd been adopted into another family? They'd think I'd given up on them! They'd think I don't love them anymore!'

I was crying now.

Being a girl, the way my emotions worked a lot differently than those of the boy whose memories I now shared.

No matter how much I wiped my eyes, the tears wouldn't stop.

'Dora's parents never even asked me if I _wanted_ to be adopted,' I said, wiping more tears from my eyes. 'If you're going to adopted someone, you're supposed to ask if they _want_ to be adopted first.'

Dora stepped forward and hugged me.

That just made me cry more.

This was something I'd never felt before, because I didn't have any memories of my own aside from the ones I'd gained since meeting Dora.

By adopting me, Dora's parents had made her my older sister.

That meant she was older than me, and for all I knew, that may be true.

After all, I didn't really know when my birthday was, because I didn't even know _who_ I was.

'Come on,' Diego said, putting his hand on my shoulder. 'I wanna show you something. It might cheer you up.'

'So, what do you think?' Diego said, smiling.

We were standing in a small forest village.

All the houses were made of rock or wood and the roofs were made of palm leaves and hay.

'Pretty cool,' I said, looking around me, smiling. 'I mean Excelente.'

It was about half an hour since I'd run out of the Rescue Centre Tree House in anger.

I'd calmed down now.

The sun was starting to set.

Diego had told Dora's parents and his parents where we were going so that they wouldn't worry.

'Gracias, May,' Diego said, smiling. 'By the way, your Spanish is getting a lot better.'

'Thanks,' I said, smiling. 'Uh, I mean-'

'It's alright, it's alright,' Diego said, laughing. 'You don't need to correct yourself all the time.'

'Oh,' I said, smiling. 'Thank you, Diego. It's still a little hard to remember it all at once, that's all.'

'Take you time,' Diego said, smiling. 'You'll get the hang of it in no time.'

'_That depends on whether I have time to spare,_' I thought, sighing inward. '_I still don't know anything about who I really am._'

'_You don't._'

I whirled around and my eyes widened with fear.

That vampire that looked like me was standing there, her eyes hidden again by shadow.

She grinned at me.

'_You have no time left at all,_' she said, licking her lips.

Her voice had changed when she said that.

It had sounded like a man's voice.

Not just any man's voice.

It was that voice I'd heard in my dreams.

Dreams? They were more like nightmares.

'May, what are you looking at?' Dora asked, stepping next to me and looking right at the girl.

'_She doesn't see her?_' I thought, stunned.

'_Soon,_' the girl said, still using a man's voice, '_you will be mine!_'

The image of that woman flashed in front of my eyes.

Suddenly my head started pounding.

I held my head, screwing my eyes tightly shut from the pain.

'May!' Dora said, looking worriedly at me. 'What's wrong?'

'My head,' I said, my eyes still shut tight. 'It hurts like crazy.'

'_Please... don't hate me._'

My eyes opened wide and they became glazed.

I started to fall forward.

'May!' Dora and Diego cried, hurrying forward and grabbing me before I fell.

I was unconscious.

'Come on,' Diego said, indicating to the village's hospital. 'She needs help.'

'Right,' Dora said, nodding.

They helped each other carry me to the hospital.

As they ran off, a man stood within the top of the trees, looking down at them, grinning.

He had black hair and two different eyes.

One was yellow and the other was marron.

The same as the eyes I'd seen in my dreams.

He was wearing a gray shirt, dark-gray pants and a long black jacket.

'Soon,' he said, watching them running off. 'She will soon awaken and be mine.'

'Don't kid yourself, Reito.'

The man turned around.

Kaname was standing in the tree not too far from him, wearing similar clothing.

The look on his face was of pure hatred.

'You won't ever touch her,' Kaname said, fading away.

'Hmm,' the man called Raito chuckled. 'Such valour to save her. So unbecoming of a Pure Blood like him.'

'Is she alright, Doctor?' Dora asked anxiously, looking up at a man with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a white coat and glasses.

He took his glasses off and sighed.

'She seems fine, for now,' he said, looking at the 2 of them. 'But we'll need to keep her here overnight and see if anything happens.'

'Oh,' Dora said, looking down sadly.

'If you like, you may stay with her, tonight,' the doctor said, smiling kindly.

'Really?' Dora said, looking up, smiling, tears in her eyes.

'Diego has helped our village many a times over,' he said, smiling. 'As you are family, I would be honoured to help out in any way I can.'

'Gracias, sénior,' Diego said, nodding.

'I'll show you to her room,' the doctor said, indicating that the 2 of them should follow him.

It was a pretty good hospital, despite being in such a small village.

It was like a smaller version of the Women's and Children's Hospital back in the real world.

Not that I knew that.

In my room, I laid in my hospital bed, tossing and turning, breathing heavily.

I was dreaming strongly.

I was standing in a forest full of white snow.

'I've seen this before,' I said, looking all around me, frowning. 'This was the forest in Vampire Knight where Yuki's memories began. What am _I_ doing here?'

'_You haven't realized?_'

I whirled around.

It was my vampire doppelganger.

She was grinning at me.

A trickle of blood slid down from the left side of her lips.

She licked it up, grinning.

'What haven't I realized?' I said, glaring at her. 'Who are you? What do you want? Why do you keep appearing? How do you know me?'

She just grinned and faded away.

'No!' I yelled, running after her. 'Tell me what you know!'

As I entered the trees the scenery changed.

I was now standing in the hall that I'd seen in my dreams the first 2 nights after Dora and I had got back from our doggy adventure.

'What _is _this place?' I said, looking around anxiously.

'_Please... don't hate me._'

I turned around and ran down the hall.

That had been a woman's voice.

It had sounded so kind, but so sad.

I could see 2 figures in the darkness of the hall in front of me.

'Hey,' I shouted, running faster.

They didn't respond.

'Where am I?' I shouted, the 2 figures becoming easier to see.

It was the woman from my visions.

The other figure was much smaller.

She was about my size.

She was wearing a pink woollen coat.

'_It's her,_' I thought, running faster. '_It's that vampire girl that looks like me._'

A horrible thought occurred to me, which I stamped down immediately.

What if that vampire girl was me?

But she couldn't be.

I was a human. She was a vampire.

Suddenly a wind blew against me.

I shut my eyes, squinting through the wind.

I was standing in another room.

Blood was splattered all over the walls.

'The room's covered in blood,' I said, covering my mouth.

I felt like I was going to be sick.

I sat up in bed, sweat drenching my body.

I was breathing heavily.

I looked around the room.

The walls, floor and ceiling were covered in blood, just like in my dream.

'What is this?' I cried, staring around wildly. 'What's happening?'

'_I'm scared,_' a small girl's voice said.

I looked around, but there wasn't anyone in the room but me.

'Whose voice is that?' I asked, holding my head and shaking.

'_... so much blood,_' the voice said, sounding shaky.

'Why do I keep seeing blood?' I whispered, screwing my eyes shut, tears leaking from my eyelids.

A breeze blew across my face.

I opened my eyes and looked to the window.

Kaname was standing there, the breeze blowing his clothes.

'K-Kaname!' I cried, getting out of bed, running to him, hugging him and crying. 'What's happening to me? Why can't I remember who I really am? I just- I just want to know...'

'It's alright, May,' he said, holding my close. 'I'll help you. It pains me to see you in this state.'

Outside my room, the doctor was standing there with Dora and Diego.

'I'm sure she'll be fine-' the doctor began.

Just then they heard me crying.

'May!' Dora cried urgently, pushing the door open.

The 3 of them saw me hugging Kaname.

He had his hand on my head.

It was glowing with purple energy.

I went limp and he picked my up, holding my in his arms.

'Kaname?' Dora said, staring at him. 'What are you doing with May?'

'You needn't concern yourself right now,' Kaname said, not looking up.

A fierce wind blew through the open window, blowing against the 3 of them.

'May!' Dora cried, shielding her eyes with her left-arm.

When the wind stopped, Kaname was gone.

'He took May!' Dora cried.

'We've got to find her,' Diego said firmly, running to the window and jumping out of it.

It had started snowing outside.

On the roof, I held my hand up to the sky.

A flake of snow landed on my open hand.

But it wasn't white.

'Red snow,' I said, tears welling in my eyes. 'The whole world... is shrouded in blood. I can't seem to see anything else.'

'May,' Kaname said, looking down at me.

I was lying on the roof, still wearing the nightdress the hospital had given me to wear.

It was a plain white and reached to my heels.

But all I saw was red.

Even the full moon was shining the colour of blood.

'I tried,' I said, the tears sliding down my face. 'I tried so hard to remember. And now-'

'May, stop,' Kaname said, kindly, yet firmly. 'It's time for you to wake up... before you go mad.'

He put his hand over my eyes and I closed them.

He leaned down to my neck, baring his fangs, and bit down into me!

'_It's cold,_' I thought, becoming aware of the weather. '_But I feel so warm._'

I gasped, opening my eyes as I felt something touching my neck.

'K-Kaname,' I said anxiously, reaching my hand up to his hand that was holding my head. 'What are you-?'

He reached the hand behind my head to my mouth, covering it, stopping me from talking.

I tried to move it, but he was too strong.

'_What- what do I feel... buried in my neck?_' I thought fearfully.

I felt and heard Kaname as he drank my blood.

'_Kaname... has bitten my neck,_' I thought, fear welling inside of me. '_But he's a Pure Blood vampire. Being bitten by a Pure Blood... means that I'll become a vampire... too._'

I felt my spirit reaching for the blood-stained moon as the power of the vampires flowed into my body, changing my blood.

'May?' Dora called, running on the ground outside, looking around frantically. 'May, where are you?'

'May?' Diego called through an orange megaphone.

Rescue Pack had turned into a megaphone.

Their voices were lost in the wind.

'You two.'

Dora and Diego turned around.

Kaido and Shay-Lin were standing behind them.

They were wearing the same clothes they'd been wearing the night they'd been with Kaname.

'Lord Kaname has asked us to protect you,' Shay-Lin said, bowing to them.

'Protect us?' Diego said, him and Dora looking at each other. 'Protect us from what?'

'And where's May?' Dora asked firmly. 'Where did Kaname take her?'

'That is none of your concern,' Kaido said coldly, looking at her.

Back on the roof, I was unconscious again.

'May,' Kaname said, wiping the tears from my eyes. 'Only you.'

He bit into his left-wrist and sucked some blood from the holes in his skin.

He then leaned forward and kissed me, letting the blood in his mouth go into mine.

I opened my eyes, wondering if I was imagining that someone was kissing me.

Suddenly I realized what Kaname was doing.

I tried getting out of his grip, but I couldn't.

'_This taste,_' I thought, screwing my eyes shut. '_It's Kaname's blood._'

A trickle of blood slid down my left-cheek.

Back on the ground, Kaido and Shay-Lin gasped, smelling the air.

'What is it?' Diego asked frowning.

'This blood,' Shay-Lin said, looking at the sky, frowning. 'It smells like...'

'But... it can't be,' Kaido said, looking shocked.

Back on the roof Kaname pulled away from me.

I stared up at him, my eyes wide with shock.

'May,' he said, looking down at me. 'Have you awakened? Do you remember... who I really am?'

I slowly lifted my right-hand up to his face.

He let me stand up.

Tears welled in my eyes.

'You're my...' I said, my voice almost choking.

Just then the sound of a gun being set to fire echoed above us.

I looked up, gasping.

'I know that smell,' said a man standing on the tower above us.

He had short-cut silvery hair and light-purple eyes.

'_Zero?_' I thought, both shocked and horrified. '_No. A Vampire Hunter._'

'That's the smell of human blood,' the man said, looking down angrily at us. 'However... now, my instincts sense _2_ vampires. Kaname! You've turned that girl-'

'No, stop!' I said, quickly getting up, running in front of Kaname and looking up with pleading eyes at the man. 'Please. This man, he's- he's my... my older brother.'

The man gasped.

'So, please,' I said, starting to lose consciousness again. 'Please, don't... hurt... him.'

Kaname caught me as I fell down.

'You're...' the man said, staring down at us in shock. 'You're siblings?'

'Yes,' Kaname said, holding me in his arms. 'However, had I truly been born her older brother I would have been much happier.'

'What do you mean?' the man said, frowning.

'May is without a doubt a Pure Blood daughter of the Koron family,' Kaname said, standing up. 'Even a Hunter like you should be able to sense that. And I will protect her with my life.'

He walked off, jumping down from the roof, leaving the man to contemplate what Kaname had said.

It was over a month ago.

I was sitting in a small, brightly light white room with no windows, but beautiful paintings on the wall.

I was wearing a red shirt under a white jumper and a light-brown skirt.

My hair was slightly longer, reaching to my shoulders.

I was sitting on a fancy white sofa, holding an open picture book.

It was the story of The Ugly Duckling.

I liked it.

It showed that true beauty is on the inside.

'When will big brother be back?' I asked, my voice sounding more my age, looking to my left.

The woman from my visions with blonde hair, like mine, wearing a light-purple fancy dress was sitting there, smiling at me.

She was my mother.

'May,' she said, giving a small laugh. 'You really love your brother, don't you?'

'Yeah,' I said smiling, closing my eyes and nodding.

On my right was a man who looked like an adult version of Kaname.

He was my father.

The door to the room opened and Kaname walked in, wearing a black long-sleeve shirt and black jeans.

'Big brother's back,' I said happily, putting the book down, getting up, running forward and hugging him. 'Welcome back, Kaname.'

'It's great to be back, May,' he said, smiling at me.

He walked me to other of the 3 sofas in the roof and we both sat down on it.

Father got up, walked over to the single chair and sat down in it.

'How long will you keep May in the basement room with no windows?' Kaname said, looking from Mother and Father, looking a little angry.

'Kaname, you must understand,' Mother said, shaking her head.

'May is too precious a vampire to let other vampires know about her,' Father said, shaking his head too. 'If anyone was to learn about her existence, she would always be in danger.'

'We know we're being selfish, keeping her down here,' Mother said, looking sad. 'But it's only because we want to protect her.'

'Yes,' Kaname said, bitting his bottom lip. 'But still...'

'You don't have to worry, Kaname,' I said, smiling. 'I know it's important to Mother and Father, so I've no problem with waiting a little while longer. And you'll always be able to come and see me, so I'm not sad.'

Kaname looked at me and smiled sweetly.

'May,' he said, holding my close. 'If ever I had a reason to go on living, it is you.'

I closed my eyes, smiling.

Later that night, as Kaname was showing me a book about other countries, Mother and Father stood up suddenly.

'What is it?' Kaname said, noticing their tension.

'Stay here and look after May,' Father said as he and Mother hurried out the room.

'Here, May,' Kaname said, helping me put on a pink woollen coat. 'You should put this on. It's getting cold.'

'Okay,' I said, looking a little confused.

Outside it was snowing and a strong wind was blowing.

Mother and Father stood in front of the house, which was surrounded by forest trees.

A man was standing in the snow, the wind blowing his cloak around.

'I'm surprised you chose to come here... big brother,' Father said, watching the man. 'Why have you come?'

The man chuckled, his black hair covering his eyes.

'Why else?' he said, licking his lips. 'I've come for that daughter... you've been trying to hide.'

They both glared at him.

'You bastard!' Mother said, fury burning in her eyes. 'You're targeting my child again!'

Back in the room, I was hugging Kaname tightly.

It had been a minute since Mother and Father had left the room.

'I'm scared,' I said, tightening my grip on Kaname's arm's sleeves.

'May,' Kaname said, looking sad.

'I can smell... lots of blood,' I whimpered, my body shaking.

'It hurts me to see you scared like this,' Kaname said, holding me closer.

'Kaname.'

We both looked up.

Mother was standing in the doorway.

'Mother's back,' I said happily, running forward and hugging her. 'Mother, where's Father?'

She didn't answer me.

She looked at Kaname and gave a sad smile.

'I see,' he said, looking down sadly. 'I'm sorry. I should have taken care of Reito early.'

Mother leaned forward, lifting her right-hand to Kaname's cheek.

'Please,' she said, holding it. 'Continue taking care of May.'

She kissed his cheek.

'Come on, May,' she said, taking my left-hand in hers.

'But, what about Kaname?' I asked, as we started to move away from the door.

'Kaname?' I said, looking at him as the door started to close behind Mother and me.

I saw a different look in his eyes.

One I'd never seen before.

'Kana- Kaname!' I cried as the door closed, sealing the 2 of us off.

Mother and I stood in the hall, which was in darkness.

Mother held me close.

'May, you don't need to worry anymore,' she said as she held me close. 'I'm going to seal all you vampire genes and turn you into a human.'

'Mother,' I said urgently, trying to get back to the door. 'Something's wrong with Kaname-'

Suddenly I felt a strong presence. It was something evil.

'Mother,' I said, my voice shaking with fear. 'There's something bad outside... too.'

'Listen to me, May,' Mother said, pulling a little away from me. 'What I do now I am doing for you.'

Suddenly the smell of Mother's blood was in the air.

I looked up in surprise.

Blood was trickling down from her face, spreading across it.

'Please... don't hate me,' she said smiling at me. 'You'll have a new life now.'

Blood spread out from the bottom of her dress, covering the floor around the 2 of us.

'M-Mother,' I said as she leaned her forehead against mine. 'What are you-?'

'When you wake up... you won't remember anything,' Mother said, going limp against me.

Chapter Thirteen

Truth, Family and Choice

As Kaname carried me in his arms, a tear leaked from my right-eye and slid down my face.

At the entrance to the village, Dora, Diego, Kaido and Shay-Lin stood, waiting.

Kaname walked out from within the wind, holding me in his arms.

'So,' Shay-Lin said, as Dora and Diego watched on, knowing they shouldn't run forward. 'All this time... that girl was a Pure Blood Vampire.'

'What?' Dora and Diego cried, looking at her and then back to Kaname as he continued walking towards us.

'May's a vampire?' Dora asked, holding her hands over her mouth.

'She's... your sister,' Kaido said to Kaname, looking stunned.

'Kaido,' Shay-Lin said, stepping forward. 'No daughters were ever born to the Koron family.'

'No,' Kaname said, walking passed them. 'May is the daughter of Shirei and Ruka. She is also the girl... born to be my wife.'

'What?' Dora and Diego gasped.

Kaido gasped as well.

'You seem surprised, Kaido,' Kaname said, stopping and looking back. 'Surely you know that, in Pure Blood families, it is not uncommon for siblings to marry.'

'I know, Lord Kaname,' Kaido said, looking away.

'But what about how May feels?' Dora asked, stepping forward.

'Silence, human,' Kaido said, snapping back to himself again, glaring at Dora. 'This isn't a matter that concerns you.'

'Yes, it does,' Dora said firmly, looking at Kaname. 'My parents adopted May. That makes her _my_ little sister too. Which means I have every right to say whether she should marry her own brother or not.'

'Why you-' Kaido began, taking a step towards Dora.

'No, Kaido,' Kaname said firmly. 'She is right.'

'But, Lord Kaname-' Kaido began.

'Whether May will marry me or not... is entirely her own choice,' Kaname said, turning around and looking at Dora. 'But now, I must take her away for a small while. When she wakes, it would be best if May wasn't around you or your cousin, Dora Melina.'

'How come?' Diego asked frowning.

'You needn't worry,' Kaname said, looking down at me, sleeping in his arms. 'I will take care of everything.'

Diego and Dora looked at each other uncertainly.

'You will see her again,' Kaname said smiling. 'Until then... Kaido? Shay-Lin?'

'Yes, Lord Kaname?' they said, looking at him.

'Protect these 2 humans as if they were Pure Bloods,' Kaname said, walking off into the village.

'What?' Kaido said, looking like someone had just whacked him over the head with a mallet. 'But- Lord Kaname!'

'Come, you two,' Shay-Lin said, looking at Dora and Diego. 'Lord Kaname has ordered us to protect you and we will do so.'

They nodded and followed her into another part of the village.

Dora was thinking about me.

'_May's a Pure Blood vampire?_' she thought as she walked behind Shay-Lin. '_How come Fairy Godmother didn't tell her? Why did she lie to her?_'

I felt like I was in a tightly packed room.

'_My body,_' I thought, feeling heat flowing through me. '_It's burning up. So hot. My throat... it's parched. So dry._'

I opened my eyes.

Kaname was sitting next to me, smiling down.

'May,' he said, reaching out his hand and hold my cheek. 'You're finally awake.'

I was lying in a bed in a small hut with a roof of hay.

My eyes weren't blue anymore.

They were glowing blood-red.

I sat up in the bed, resting on my knees.

My hair had grown longer.

It reached to my hips.

'My throat,' I whispered, holding my left-hand to it. 'It's so dry.'

'May,' Kaname said, putting his left-hand under my chin and lifting my head up a little. 'Don't resist what you need to do.'

I gasped.

I was seeing into Kaname's body.

I could see the veins carrying his blood.

'K-Kaname,' I said, grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer to me. 'I- I want to...'

'It's alright, May,' he said, sitting down on the bed and holding me close. 'I know. Do what you need to.'

I pushed him down so that he was lying on the bed.

I leaned forward and licked the right-side of his neck.

'_I want..._' I thought, my throat feeling dry, a lust rising from inside me.

'_May,_' Kaname thought, wrapping his arms around my back. '_I'm sorry. Sorry for bringing you back... into this world of blood._'

Fangs bared from my mouth and I bit, deeply into Kaname's neck, drinking his blood, hungrily.

We stayed like that for several minutes.

Kaname lying there, me drinking his blood.

'Yes,' he said quietly. 'Drink deeply.'

My grip on his shoulders tightened.

'May,' Kaname said, closing his eyes. 'Please... don't cry.'

I _was _crying.

I couldn't help it.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time.

My emotions were all over the place.

'_This man's blood,_' I thought, getting my crying under control. '_It's permeating my body. I can't tell where our limits are..._'

Suddenly an image flashed across my eyes.

A man was standing in front of a large pile of bodies, grinning with an evil gleam.

It lasted only a second, but I saw it as plain as day.

'_What was that?_' I thought, pulling away from Kaname, a trail of blood on the left-side of my lips, reaching down my cheek. '_Was it a fragment... of Kaname's memory?_'

'You saw it,' Kaname said, looking at me knowingly. 'Didn't you?'

I nodded.

'It was a beast,' I said quietly. 'A truly horrible creature. But then... I'm not human either, am I?'

Kaname sat, looking at me as I held my hands together.

'I remember now,' I said, tightening my hands together. 'Mother sacrificed her life, placing a spell on me that turned me into a human. Father told me to wait while he fought off all the bad people, but...'

A small crack appeared in the glass window next to me.

'He never came back,' I said, bitting my bottom lip.

Kaname put his arms around me from behind.

'May, clam down,' he said, holding me tightly.

'They were both such kind and strong people,' I said, shaking a little. 'But now... they're gone.'

I started to cry again.

'May,' Kaname said, holding me gently.

'Why?' I said, biting my bottom lip. 'Why did they do it? Why did they try to save me? Why was I born like this?'

Suddenly the glass shattered, along with a piece of the wall surrounding it.

I gasped, staring at it in horror, holding my hands over my face, my left-eye looking through my left-hand.

It was wide with horror and fear.

'Did- did _I_ do that?' I asked, my body shaking all over.

'May, listen to me,' Kaname said, holding me closer. 'Never question what you are, or how much they loved you.'

I started to calm down and my eyes stopped glowing blood-red, returning to their usual blue.

'Kaname,' I said quietly, turning around to look at him. 'I'm afraid... that there's something wrong with me.'

'Why do you think that?' Kaname asked, smiling at me.

'Because,' I said, looking down a giving a small smile. 'All this time... I've been falling in love... with my brother.'

I'd tried denying it, back when I'd still thought I was Ben Cousins.

But, now, knowing that I had been born a girl, in this world, I couldn't pretend anymore.

I was in love... with this man.

This kind, understanding man, who looked at me with such tender eyes.

'And what would be so wrong with that,' Kaname asked, looking at me.

I gasped, looking back up at him.

Kaname lend forward, held my face with both his hands and licked the trickle of blood from my cheek.

'But, we're siblings,' I said, looking up at him.

'That doesn't matter,' Kaname said, looking at me.

I blinked, not sure if I understood.

'Whether we're siblings or not, it doesn't change the fact that you're my fiancé,' Kaname said, holding my chin.

I gasped as a memory from my past flashed in front of my mind.

It was about two months ago.

Kaname and I had been sleeping in the same bed, looking at each other.

'You know,' he said, smiling at me. 'They say that when we grow up, we'll be just like Mother and Father.'

'You really mean it, Kaname?' I said, looking at him.

I closed my eyes, smiling, giving a small sigh.

'_Mother and Father... were siblings too,_' I thought, the memory fading, looking up at Kaname again.

'But, Kaname...' I said, looking down. 'That's something-'

'Something... only a monster would do?' Kaname asked, lifting my chin again. 'We're not human, May. The rules are different for us.'

'I realize that,' I said, looking away again. 'But still...'

With Ben's memories, I knew so much more about life than someone my age should.

I was younger than Dora, but only by a few days.

I'd been born, 7 years ago on June 6th.

Just then, a scent was in the air.

'Wh-what's that smell?' I said, turning around and looking back. 'Blood?'

Kaname grabbed me, holding me close again.

'Yes, May,' he said firmly. 'Enjoy the sweet smell of blood. Embrace it and you will know who you truly are.'

He let me go, got off the bed and stood up.

'I must go now,' he said, looking down at me. 'Stay here, where you will be safe.'

'Okay...' I said uncertainly, nodding.

I watched him walk out the door and disappear into the night.

'I know I said I would stay,' I thought, getting up, sliding off the bed and walking over to the now smashed-open window. 'But I need to know.'

I stood at the window, sniffing the air.

'I smell blood,' said quietly. 'And I sense something unpleasant. It isn't Dora.'

Not too far away in the village, Shay-Lin stood in front of Dora and a whip of blood slashed her left-cheek.

Blood dripped down her cheek from the cut left on her face.

'Shay-Lin,' Dora cried, fear in her eyes.

'Do not worry, Dora,' she said, glaring at her attacker. 'Lord Kaname told me to protect you and that's exactly what I am going to do.'

'Interesting,' the man from before said, walking forward. 'You're willing to sacrifice your life for a simple human. How amusing.'

'You will not lay a hand on this girl,' Shay-Lin said, glaring at the man. 'Reito Koron.'

'Koron?' Dora gasped, staring at Reito. 'You mean... that monster is related to May and Kaname?'

'I'm more than simply related to them,' Reito said, grinning, his fangs shining in the light of the full moon. 'I'm their uncle.'

Dora gasped, holding her hands over her mouth.

'Lord Kaname has told us to protect these humans,' Kaido said firmly, standing in front of Diego. 'We will not fail him.'

Back at the hut, I sighed with relief.

'It's not Dora's blood,' I thought, sitting down on the floor, a distant look in my eyes. 'But now, I have no real right to worry about her.'

'_Because you were never human._'

I looked up.

The girl I'd been seeing for the last month was standing in front of me, looking at me.

'_You're a vampire,_' she said, looking at me.

'Shut up,' I said, closing my eyes, putting my hands over my ears.

'_You never even should have met her,_' she continued, smiling cruelly. '_Had it not been for that Fairy Godmother, you would only ever have thought of that girl as food._'

'Shut up,' I said, screwing my eyes tightly.

Why could I still hear her?

'_Had that transportation spell never failed, you would have awakened weeks ago,_' she continued grinning. '_You would have become the monster you truly are and thought nothing of that girl until she was your next meal._'

'SHUT UP!' I shouted, my voice echoing loudly.

A blast of energy exploded from my body, completely destroying what was left of the small hut.

I stoop up in the rubble, my face determined.

'I'm not a monster,' I said firmly, clenching my left-fist, looking towards the direction of the smell of blood. 'I'm whoever I decide to be. And I choose... to be Dora's little sister.'

'Now,' Reito said, standing over Dora, who stared up at with total horror. 'I think it's time I had a midnight snack.'

Just then Reito's shoulder exploded.

'ARH!' he cried, turning around, glaring.

Kaname was standing behind him, his face a mask of hate.

'This ends now, Uncle,' he said, glaring at Reito.

'Why, if it isn't my dear nephew, Kaname,' Reito said, grinning, his shoulder healing up. 'The last time I saw you, you killed all of my servants.'

'Our race is a plague on this world,' Kaname said, clenching his fist. 'I won't allow you to revive it.'

'What do you mean by "revive"?' Dora asked, still staring at Reito in fear.

'If a human is bitten by the fangs of a Pure Blood,' Reito said, turning his head and grinning at her. 'They will suffer 1 of 2 fates. Either bleeding to death, or become a vampire as well.'

Dora gasped, holding her hands over her mouth.

'But I won't allow you to do it,' Kaname said, glaring at Reito. 'Our history is covered in the blood of humans. It ends now!'

Kaname charged forward, his right-arm stretched out to his side.

'Hmm,' Reito chuckled. 'You forget who you are, my dear nephew.'

A wave of energy blasted from Reito's body, slamming into Kaname.

He went flying backwards, smashing to the ground.

'Did you really think you could stop me, Kaname?' Reito said, walking up to Kaname, bending down and shoving his hand into Kaname's chest where his heart was.

Kaname gasped in pain.

Reito pulled his hand out, covered in Kaname's blood.

'You _can't_ kill me, no matter _how_ hard you try,' Reito said, grinning, licking the blood on his hand. 'The Blood Magic stops you every time you try.'

'Maybe _he_ couldn't,' a voice said angrily from above. 'But I know _I_ can!'

Reito looked up and jumped away just in time to avoid my fist.

It missed him, smashing into the ground next to Kaname.

'May,' Dora cried, tears of joy and relief in her eyes.

'Kaname,' I said anxiously, holding his head. 'You can't die on me. Not now. Not after I finally remembered that you're my brother.'

'I won't... May,' Kaname said, smiling at me.

I knew he was lying.

Reito had stabbed his heart.

Even Pure Blood vampires will die if they're stabbed in the heart while they cannot recover.

And after letting me drink so much of his blood, Kaname's body wasn't strong enough to heal itself.

'So,' Reito said, grinning. 'This is the little girl that has been so much trouble.'

I stood up, turned around and glared at Reito.

'Hello... Uncle,' I said, saying "uncle" like it was a disease.

In a way, he was a disease.

He spread wherever he went.

He never cared for life.

He'd bite human after human, turning them all into vampires, just to satisfy his hunger.

'We are the last of the vampires,' Reito said, looking at me. 'Why do you fight me, dear niece? Why not join me? Together, we could create a world, populated only by vampires.'

'I think not,' I said, glaring at him, my fist clenched. 'You make me wish I had been born human.'

'What?' Reito said, looking very shocked.

'That way I wouldn't have to say that I'm in any way related to _you_,' I said, my glare turning into a snarl.

Reito sighed.

'Well, if that's the way you feel,' he said, shrugging. 'I guess I'll just have to change the world without you.'

He lunged forward.

I leapt into the air, slashing my arms at his face as I went over his head.

He yelped as my nails slashed through the skin on his face.

'Why you little-' he yelled, whirling around.

But I'd disappeared.

Dora had too.

All he could see was Kaido and Shay-Lin standing in front of Diego.

'Where are you, my dear niece?' Reito called, looking around. 'Come out, come out, wherever you are.'

'Are you sure?' Dora asked, looking at me nervously.

We were hiding behind a large rock at the edge of the clearing.

I was surprised that Reito hadn't figured it out already.

'I'm sure,' I said, nodding. 'Neither Kaname or I can do it, since we're the progenitors of the Koron family. But _you _can.'

'Okay,' Dora said, nodding.

I stood up, and walked towards Reito.

'Giving up, are you?' he said, seeing me as I walked towards him.

'Not likely, Uncle,' I said, holding my right-hand to the sky.

'I call on the power of the Crystal Princesses!' I shouted, looking up at the sky.

A ball of yellow light appeared in the sky above me.

A beam shot out from it, surging down onto me.

The nightdress I'd been wearing vanished, replaced with a beautiful yellow dress with sleeves that were bigger at the end, a golden tiara appearing on my head.

'That's impossible!' Reito cried, staring at me in shock. 'A vampire can't become a Crystal Princess.'

'You're forgetting, Reito,' I said, swirling in a circle, a shaft of golden light appearing in my right-head, shaping itself into a glowing, golden sword. 'This vampire has the heart of a human!'

I lunged forward, slashing at him.

He moved around me, dodging my attack.

'Missed,' he grinned.

'No, I haven't,' I said, whirling around, stabbing the sword into his chest, just above his heart.

Reito laughed heartedly.

'Did you really think that was going to work?' he said grinning at me, his eyes leering. 'Unlike your brother, I won't simply die if you stab my chest.'

'I know,' I said smiling. 'You're healing powers are too strong.'

'Then why are you smiling?' he asked frowning.

'You weren't listening, were you?' I said smirking.

'What do you mean?' Reito said, his frown deepening.

'I called on the power of the Crystal _Princesses_,' I said, still smirking. 'Not just 1.'

'What?' Reito said, blinking.

Suddenly a silver rod, covered in ice, burst through his chest, right where his heart was.

'What?' Reito cried in alarm, looking behind him.

'Hi,' Dora said, standing there smirking. 'I'm Dora. May's older sister.'

Dora was wearing clothes just like the Snow Princess.

I'd read through the story and my Crystal Princess clothing was the same as that, but coloured yellow instead of light-blue.

Dora was holding the Artemis rod, which was covered in magical ice.

When Dora and I had been behind the rock, I'd given her Artemis, explaining that, since I was now a vampire, I couldn't use it, since it was an item with a spell against vampires on it. But she could use it.

'When I say the word "princesses", use your snow powers to cover Artemis in magical ice and stabbed it through Reito's chest,' I'd said, looking at her. 'I can't do it, but _you_ can, Dora.'

'But- how?' Reito cried, staring in horror at Dora.

'Since neither Kaname nor I could kill you by the Blood Magic binding us, you thought you were invincible,' I said, letting go of the glowing sword. 'But Dora has the power of a Crystal Princess too. So she could do what neither he nor I could. Beat you.'

'No!' Reito cried, he body glowing with white light. 'No! No! NO!'

His whole body shone brightly. A wind was blowing from him with a force so strong that it was all I could do to stay standing.

Suddenly I sensed an enormous surge of energy about to be released and Dora was too close.

'Dora!' I cried, running forward, about to push her out of the way.

At that moment, the energy was released.

Reito vanished in a large explosion of white energy that sent me crashing into Dora and sending us flying.

My head whacked into her shoulder as we hit the ground.

'NO!' Reito's voice cried out from within the explosion.

When the light faded away, Dora and I got up, looking around.

I saw Kaname, trying to stand up.

'Kaname,' I cried, running over to him, Dora right behind me.

I put my arm under Kaname's arm and helped him to stand up.

Diego hurried over, followed by Shay-Lin.

'Where's Kaido,' I asked her as the stopped in front of us.

Diego looked down sadly.

'He turned to dust after he shielded me from the blast,' Diego said, not meeting my eyes.

'He was following orders,' Kaname said smiling. 'He died with honour. There is no greater way to die than that.'

At that moment I noticed the taste of blood was in my mouth.

'_I must have bitten my tongue when Dora and I were hit by that wave of energy,_' I thought, swallowing.

No. This didn't taste like _my_ blood. It wasn't Kaname's either.

Just then a horrible thought occurred to me.

'Dora!' I cried anxiously, looking up.

'What?' Dora cried, looking at me anxiously at the sound of fear in my voice.

My eyes widened with horror.

Dora's neck had 2 small holes in it.

Blood had leaked out and soaked the shoulder of her Princesses dress.

Kaname had sensed it too.

He lifted himself up with difficulty, so that I could run over to Dora.

'Dora,' I cried, holding her hands in mine, tears in my eyes. 'Oh, Dora! I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry!'

I was completely in tears. I couldn't stop them, not that I bothered trying.

Our Crystal Princess clothes vanished, retuning to our normal ones again.

'What is it, May?' Dora asked, looking confused.

Just then, she noticed her reflection in my eyes.

She saw the holes in her neck.

She pulled her right-hand away from me and lifted it to her neck, feeling where the holes were.

'It must have happened when that energy threw me into you,' I said, practically bawling now. 'It must have made me hit you with so much force that my fangs pierced your skin. I'm _so_ sorry, Dora. I'm _so_ sorry.'

I couldn't say anymore.

It was just too much.

I couldn't do anything else.

I just slumped to the ground at Dora's feet, crying and bawling as if nothing was good in the world anymore.

As if life itself wasn't worth living.

'You... bit me,' Dora said slowly, the realization seeming to sink in. 'That means... I'll become a...'

'A vampire,' Kaname said, looking at her. 'Though she didn't mean to, May bit you. Being a Pure Blood, her bite has now turned you into a vampire as well.'

'But,' Dora said, tears welling in her eyes. 'That means I'll never see my Mami or Papi again.'

'I'm sorry, Dora,' I wailed, facing the ground, unable to look her in the eyes. 'I'm _so_ sorry!'

'You needn't worry,' Kaname said, smiling at the both of us.

'What do you mean?' I cried angrily, looking around at him, tears drenching my face. 'I've turned Dora into vampire. That other girl was right. I _am_ a monster!'

'We can change the 2 of you back into humans,' Kaname said, smiling.

My crying stopped abruptly.

I looked up at him, tears still in my eyes.

'Shay-Lin and I can give up our lives and turn the both of you back into humans,' Kaname said, smiling at me.

'It would be my honour,' Shay-Lin said, bowing.

'But that spell killed Mother,' I said, looking up at him. 'If you both use it than you-'

'Yes,' Kaname said smiling sadly. 'We will die. But I cannot bear to see you sad, like this.'

'But... Kaname,' I said, looking up at him.

'You have a family with the humans now, May,' Kaname said smiling. 'If I truly love you, I would do anything if it would make you happy.'

'Kaname,' I said quietly.

'Your memories of all of this will disappear forever,' Kaname said, holding my chin. 'You will remember me, only as your brother. You will forget about have once been a vampire and that mother and father were vampires too.'

'But, Kaname-' I began.

He put his fingers on my lips.

'That way, you will not remember the horrible things that you have seen,' he said, kissing my forehead. 'Once the spell is done, you will remember nothing of vampires in this world.'

My eyes closed and I fell asleep.

Dora fell asleep too.

Kaname stood up and walked over to Diego.

'I will also erase your memories as well,' he said, placing his hand on Diego's head.

His hand glowed with purple energy.

Diego's eyes closed and he fell asleep on the ground.

'Now,' Kaname said, putting his hand to his head.

Blood trickled down his head from the point he'd touched.

'Let's begin,' he said, walking up to me, holding me close.

The next morning we all woke up in the clearing.

'What are we doing here?' Diego asked, holding his head.

'I don't know,' Dora said, holding her own.

'Where _is_ here?' I asked, holding my head, looking around.

We didn't remember anything about the previous night.

All memories related to my life as a vampire had vanished from my mind.

I now remembered my parents saving me from an explosion and waking up in that bush a little before meeting Dora, thinking I was Ben.

I remembered Kaname was my brother, but I didn't remember anything else.

'Come on,' I said, standing up and dusting off the nightdress I was still wearing from the hospital. I didn't even remember _why_ I'd been in the hospital. 'We'd better get back. Everyone's probably worried sick about us.'

The others nodded and we hurried off.

Well, after I went behind the bushes and put on my brown, light-brown shorts, with my light-grey, sleeveless shirt with a hood on the back.

Luckily for me, Dora had put it in Backpack before she'd hurried out of the Tree House to go after me when I'd run off, angry that I'd been adopted without being asked if I wanted to be adopted first.

Once I was dressed, we all headed off, back towards the tree house.

For some reason I felt a sadness inside me.

I couldn't tell why.


End file.
